By Sonia Patel While YA novels are increasingly diverse, safe diversity—with accessible and likable protagonists and their convenient struggles—is usually seen as enough. These unoffending books tend to be championed and more popular. Unsettling diversity, on the other hand, is often frowned upon, discounted, or misconceived.I’m a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist and a young... Continue Reading →
“Remix” is integral in Chef Roy Choi’s work as he uses food to remix culture and communities. What does remix mean to you and does it apply to your daily work?JJL: As a food ethnographer, I think about “remix” all the time! Remix is now the culinary code for good and interesting food, not just... Continue Reading →
By Soman ChainaniWriting THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD & EVIL series is like running a fantasy corporation. Six years into writing, five books later, I wake up every day and juggle over 150 characters, 40 plot lines, and a world so big it feels like it’s outgrowing my own head. But it’s what I was born... Continue Reading →
The Big Bed by Bunmi Laditan; illustrated by Tom Knight (Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR, February 2018). All rights reserved. @macmillanchildrensbooks
By Amy Rose CapettaI discovered the joys of theater in middle school for a sad but simple reason: I was quitting dance. At the age of twelve, I was told by my teacher that I couldn’t continue at an advanced level without losing a significant amount of weight. The issue of body policing in the... Continue Reading →
Check out our Q&A with Nikki Grimes, author of THE WATCHER ( Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers, October 2017)!1. What inspired you to write The Watcher?A few years ago, I was invited to write a Golden Shovel poem for The Golden Shovel Anthology, a collection honoring the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet, Gwendolyn Brooks. This... Continue Reading →
Contributed by Tracey HechtI remember when I was a kid that adults would often respond to my beliefs on social, human, and political positions with some version of: Well, you won’t feel that way when you grow up. I was raised in a conservative town with conservative ideals (starting, I suppose, with the belief that... Continue Reading →
Contributed by Natasha FriendEvery book has a conception story. Mine begins with the shameless binge-watching of an MTV reality series called “Generation Cryo.” Over the course of six episodes, the show follows 17-year-old Breeanna, daughter of a lesbian couple who was conceived via sperm donation, on a search for her genetic half-siblings. Thanks to the Donor... Continue Reading →
Contributed by Audrey PennThe most important thing I can do as an author of children’s books is offer stories that open communication between child and parent. In my Kissing Hand series, it is Mrs. Raccoon who helps Chester through his many issues and difficulties beginning with separation anxiety. Other books in the series deal with... Continue Reading →
Contributed by Susan Tan“It’s simple, Susan. Just pick one. Which would you rather be?”It was my first day of first grade at a new school, and we were playing a getting-to-know-you game that doubled as a class-demographics survey. We had divided ourselves into groups based on favorite ice cream flavor, age, favorite animal, and zip... Continue Reading →
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